Featured artist: Rafel Bestard

The work of Spanish artist Rafel Bestard is neither comfortable to look at nor decorative. There is a sense of urgency, danger, where irony merges inevitably with perversity and innocence. The narrative goes beyond the frame constraints, and the superposition of images becomes a continuous collage, reveals a collection of monsters that coexists in a comedy, which is not always human. If for Hobbes the man is a wolf for the man, for Bestard the wolf is a man for the wolf. The animal cohabits with the man. They are both a unity and a duality.

—Albert Lladó

We first noticed the impressive work of Rafel Bestard at Scope Basel. Recently, we’ve had the pleasure to catch up with him for a quick chat.

What’s the first thing that you think of when you wake up in the morning?“Oh no! five minutes more, please…” and/or “I have to pee”

What makes you forget time? Well, it’s not clear if time really exists, in any case the best way to gain it is to lose it

If you could only keep three possessions, what would they be?1 The love of my beloved ones,
2 painting, and
3 the talent and chance to enjoy the two previous.

Who has influenced you the most?Those wise people whose company you do not want to leave. One example are my grandfathers, both passed away long ago, but they keep visiting me some nights in my dreams.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?“Vocatus atque non vocatus, deus aderit”. Loosely translated it means: “Called or not called, the god will be there”. Carl Jung carved this Latin inscription above the door of his house. It is a Delphic oracle though. It means, in Jung’s own words: yes, the god will be on the spot, but in what form and to what purpose?

We are proud to present of a selection of Rafel Bestard’s work on Elusive. Check out more of his work at the booth of Galeria Contrast at Scope Basel 2015!